Metal support for wooden building construction



OLD/4R7- May 26,1936. RWAL E 5 2,042,370

METAL SUPPORT FOR WOODEN BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed Dec. 12, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 OLDART May 26, 1936. F. R. WALKER METAL SUPPORT FOR WOODEN BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed Dec.

12, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Maj 26, 1936. F. R. WALKER METAL SUPPORT FOR'WOODEN BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed Dec. 12, 1934 v 3. sheets shee't 3 Patented May 26, 1936 I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE IVIETAL SUPPORT FOR WOODEN BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Frank E. Walker, Glencoe, Ill.

Application December 12, 1934, Serial No. 757,221

6 Claims. (01. 20-1) My invention is an improvement inwooden cation of my invention to that part of a wooden building construction, and relates more especially building construction-forming a partition.

to the provisionof metal supporting members Fig. l3 -isasectional view showing a further adapted to cooperate with thewooden timbersfor modification of the metal supporting member for 5 the erection of a more substantial structure. the. joists. 5

It is well known that. in wooden building con- Fig. 14 isa sectional view illustrating the efiect struction the joists, beams, and other cross tin of the shrinkage of the joists. bers supporting the floors and ceilings from the Figs. 15 and 16 are perspective and plan views studding are subject to shrinkage which results showing a modification inwhich the metal supin the settling of the structure, causing unsightly porting member is in the form of a continuous cracks to appear in the plastered walls and ceilplateconnecting the several studs.

ings, as well as other structural defects such as Figs. 1'7, 18, and 19 are detail views of addisagging of the floors and the sticking of doors and tional modifications. windows. Like numerals ofreference. indicate like parts Having in mind these defects which are assoin all the figures of. the drawings. 15, ciated with the usual construction of wooden In the construction of frame buildings it is.

buildings it is the main purpose of my invention customary: in some instances to. support the studto provide a metal supporting member or unit ding 26' on sill pieces 2| which receive the ends for the joists and like structural wooden elements of. the joists 22, as illustrated in Fig. 1, and in 20 employed in the erection of the building, whereby other instances to have the studding 2.3 (Fig.2) 20 to maintain the joist or Wooden element at a rest on supplemental sill pieces: 24. with the rough definite height, thus stabilizing the ceiling line flooring interposed between the sill and joists, and at the same time brace the building for the main sill pieces resting on a foundation wall greater wind resistance, without interfering with 26 in respect tothe side walls, or an I-beam 21- 2 the usual shrinkage of the timberswhich iscomfor supporting the partitions of the building. 25

pensated for in certain parts of the'structu-re and Furthermore, where the studding is extended bein such manner as to retain the smooth appearyond the second floor (Fig. 1) a wooden strip or ance of the interior walls and ceilings. ribbon 28 is inset on the face of the studding to The purposes of my present invention are acsupport the second floor joists 29 (Fig. 1), while 30 complished by including in the wooden building in the employment of the comparatively short 30 construction metal plates of substantial constuds 23, 23 (Fig. 2) wood plates 30, 30 are interstruction located between the uprights or studs posed between the adjacent ends of said short and secured thereto for the purpose of supportstuds and receive the second floor joists 31. ing the joists or other woodentimbers to which Where wood ribbon isused the shrinkage action the floors and ceilings are attached sothat takes effect in both the top and bottom portions, 35 shrinkage of said joists or timbers will be taken with the result. that the joists, secured to the care of at the floor line in respect to each story of studding, instead of resting on this ribbon as the building, all as hereinafter fully described originally intended, are suspended in mid-air, or and especially referred to in the appended claims. slightly above the ribbon, thereby causing the 4,0 In the drawings: eiTect of this wood ribbon to be lost as-a support 4.0

Figures 1 and 2 are perspective views of porfor the floor joists. In like manner this general tions of a wooden building structure, showing the constructionis usually followed in a building conusual method of construction. struction having brick walls, as shown in Fig. 3,

Fig 3 is a Sectional View! the shrinkage f the wherein the joists d2, 32 tied into the wall 33- at wooden joists being indicated in dotted lines. one by metal he plates 34 hear at the other 45 end on a sill piece 35 for the first floor and companion wood plates 36, 36 for the second and third floors, the wood plates being supported by studding 31, 3B resting upon auxiliary sillpieces 39 and 40 mounted directly on the inner lapped ends Fig. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the application of my invention.

Fig. 5. is an elevation of Fig. 4.

Figs. 6, 7, 8, and 9 are detail. views of the. pre- 50 ferred form of construction of the metal supportof the joists. or on rough flooring. 4| interposed mg fnember in accordance between said sill pieces and joists. Thesepre- FlgS-l 10 and 11 are m the formavailing methodsof construction are faulty in'the tion of the me supportlng member respectv that theshrinkage of the joists results in Fig. 12 i'sa pe p v showing t np ithe settling of the walls in frame buildings and 5 the partitions in both frame and brick buildings causing very objectionable defects such as crack- 7 ing of the walls and ceilings as well as sagging of the floors, window and door frames which not only make an unsightly appearance but also dis- 'to'rt the frames of the windows and'doors to such buildings, illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. In other words, the shrinkage of the first floor joists, indicated by the dotted line a is followed down by the studding 31 which permits sagging of the wood plates .36., as at b, and the shrinking of the second floor joistsiand'plates, indicated by c, is likewise followed down by the stud-ding of the second floor, lowering the wood plates supported at the upper ends of this studding, thus lowering the height of. the joists towhich the second fioorceiling is attached. Of course there is an uneven shrinking in the building construction evidenced by cracks in the plaster at wall and ceiling intersections and in corners of the vertical walls, the

degree of settling being greater at the ceiling of the second floor than at theceiling of the first floor for the reason th'atit is affected by the shrinkage of the first and second fioor joists and plates, while the settling of thefirst floor ceiling is. the result of the shrinkage of the first floor joists and sill pieces only.

I have discovered'that the settling of wooden building structures of the general character hereinbefore described can be eliminated by supporting the joists for the floorings and ceilings on crosspieces of metal or other non-shrinkable material located between the'studs and secured at their ends thereto, it being understood thereis no shrinking of the stud longitudinally, whereby the joists are maintained at the original or definite height irrespective of the shrinkage of said joists, and as the usual shrinkage in this instance only affects the height of the upper edge of the joist there is merely a slight settling of the flooring and to the extent only of the shrinkage of the joists on which the separate floors are supported, nosettling of the building structure occurring in respect to the ceilings. As a consequence of this construction the walls and partitions are maintained in their original condition; and in addition to the metal supports overcoming the objectionable'settling of the structure which is detrimental 'to the interior finish, as regards the plastered walls, Window and door frames, mantles, etc., they serve to thoroughly brace the walls and partitions will offer .a maximum of wind resistance.

The metal or non-shrinkable supporting members in accordance with my invention may be made in various shapes in cross-section, that shown more clearly in the detail views 6 to 9 being in the form of a plate 42 with attaching members '43, 43 -at its ends by which said member is secured to the studs, and for the purpose of bracing the plate as well as provide bearings for the joists. the opposite longitudinal edges are turned to provide flanges 44, 44, and to further strengthen the plate it is stamped inwardly where the attaching members join the body of the plate to provide curvedribs 4,5. As, will benoted by referenceto Fig. 6 the depending end members of the plate are provided with holes ,46 through which nails or other securing means are driven into the stud, and the body of the plate provided with holes 42a near its ends through which nails are driven into the joist. In Figs. 4 and Ihave shown this particular form of metal supporting member applied to an outer wall structure in which the long studs 41, 41 rise from a sill piece 48-resting on the foundation wall 49.and supporting the first floor joists 59, with the metal supporting members 42 secured between said studs to support the second.

floor joists 5|; while in Fig. 12 my invention is shown applied to, a partition construction in.

according to the height of the building. I r

. Although the formation of the supporting member as hereinbefore described is thepreferred construction, it will be understood that the same results in the more substantial construction of a frame-structure -may be obtained by modifying the shape-of the member; for instance in Figs. 10, 13, and 17 I have shown a straight plate 51 with-attaching members '58, 58, projecting in a the same direction, and in Fig. 11 a similar plate 59 is employed having the attaching members 60, i r

to extending in oppositedirections In the form shown in Fig, 18 I employ an angle plate 6| with the vertical member thereof extended beyond the. ends of the horizontal member, as

at 62, 62, and provided with holes for attachment of the angle plate to the face of the studs, while in Figs. 15 and 16 a longangle plate 63 is employed and the horizontal member on which the joists rest cut away, as at 64, to receive the studs to which it is attached, in this instance the angle plate-bridges a plurality of studs for convenience .in application and greater rigidity.

As a still further modification in the shape of the metal supporting member for the purpose of carrying out my invention I have shown in Fig. 19 a T-shape plate 65 in which the strengthening rib 66' is cut away at; its ends so that the end portions of the plate may be bent to provide th attaching flanges 61, 61. a v

Any of the difierent forms of supporting members may be applied flat or on edge, that is to say as the purposeof thes e,metal supports'or structural unitsis to firmly support the joists or like timbers at predetermined height in the: building structure they'may be applie between the studding according to the desire of the builder, and

being'simple, and cheap in construction they are more economical than the ordinary wood ribbons which require notching of the'studding; as

well as provide a more substantial construction bynot requiring the studs to be weakened by notches. The use of the metal supporting mem-' bers also eliminates the necessity of sizing joists to an exact width inasmuch as the top line of the joists is set'at'a heightfto' conform to the floor level, and any unevenness'in the width of the joist is absorbed atthe ceiling line. After the fioor joists are set at the proper height the metal support is adjusted against the'undersideof the wood joists and secured in place, thereby permanently supporting said joists at a definite or predetermined h'eight, and'there being no shrinkage action in saidmetal support the joists will not drop to a lower level; that is to say, when shrink- '15 age action does take place the bottom of the joist can go no lower than the metal joist support on which it rests, so that all shrinkage action must be absorbed at the upper portion of the joist on which the flooring rests which is concealed by the wood base shoe. This is illustrated in Fig. 14 of the drawings, where it will be seen that the shrinkage of the joists on which the flooring 68 is placed lowers this flooring to the extent of the shrinkage, indicated by the letter e, resulting in merely leaving a gap between the flooring and wood base shoe 69, when the shoe is nailed to the baseboard, but the formation of a gap may be easily overcome by nailing the wood base shoe into the wood floor instead of into the baseboard, so that when the joists shrink the base shoe being nailed into the floor drops a-distance equal to the shrinkage of the joists, thus eliminating an unsightly crack at the floor line. In either instance the height of the ceiling 10 is not affected, and consequently there is no settling of the building construction between the floors and ceilings of any of the several stories of the building.

The metal supporting member or device for carrying out my invention can be made in any size to fit different spacing of studs and may be secured to the studs by means of nails, screws, bolts, or other attaching means, and although I have illustrated numerous modifications I desire it to be understood that other modifications in the design of the metal supporting member may be adopted within the spirit and scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. A timber supporting unit for the studding and joists of a frame construction to overcome the damaging effect coincident with the shinking of the joists, said supporting unit comprising a non-shrinkable member of a length corresponding with the space between studding, and attaching flanges at the ends of said member for securing the same to the studding in supporting the joists at a definite or predetermined height.

2. A joist supporting unit for the studding and joists of a frame construction to overcome the damaging efiect coincident with the shrinking of the joists, said joist supporting unit comprising a non-shrinkable plate of a length corresponding to the space between the studding, reinforcing flanges at the longitudinal edges of the plate, and. attaching flanges at the ends of said plate for securing the same to the studding.

3. A joist supporting unit for the studding and joists of a frame construction to overcome the damaging effect coincident with the shrinking of the joists, said joist supporting unit comprising a channel plate extending between the studding and having attaching flanges at its ends for securing the same to the studding in supporting the joists at a definite or predetermined height.

4. A joist supporting unit for the studding and joists of a frame construction to overcome the damaging effect coincident with the shrinking of the joists, said joist supporting unit comprising a metal angle bar having attaching flanges at its ends for securing the same to the studding in supporting the joists at a definite or predetermined height.

5. A joist supporting unit for the studding and joists of a frame construction to overcome the damaging effect coincident with the shrinking of the joists, said joist supporting unit comprising a T-shaped metal plate having attaching flanges at its ends for securing the same to the studding in supporting the joists at a definite or predetermined height.

6. In combination with a wooden building construction including studding and. joists, of a support for maintaining the joists at a definite or predetermined height comprising a metal plate having longitudinal reinforcing flanges, and end flanges bent at an angle to the plate for attaching the same to the studding.

FRANK R4. WALKER. 

